Gasoline at 3-Month High; ICE Gasoil Longs Gain

Gasoline advanced for an eighth
session to reach a three-month high in Europe’s barge market.

Money managers raised net-long positions on gasoil to the
most in more than two months on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Light Products

Gasoline in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp oil hub traded
from $1,020 to $1,030 a metric ton with 14,000 tons changing
hands, according to a Bloomberg survey of traders and brokers
monitoring the Argus Bulletin Board. Barges changed hands from
$1,021 and $1,023 on Jan. 25.

Total SA and Gunvor Group Ltd. sold the Eurobob grade, to
which ethanol is added before being sold at the pump. BP Plc and
Cargill Inc. bought barges, which typically comprise 1,000 and
2,000 tons.

Gasoline’s crack, or premium to Brent crude, fell to $10.71
a barrel as of 11:03 a.m. local time, according to PVM Oil
Associates Ltd., a London-based broker. The gap was $10.90 the
previous session, which was the highest since Sept. 28.

Naphtha’s crack, or discount to Brent, was little changed
at $6.81 a barrel, versus $6.75 on Jan. 25.

Middle Distillates

Speculative bets that gasoil prices will rise, in futures
and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 66,644
contracts in the week to Jan. 22, the London-based ICE exchange
said in its weekly Commitment of Traders report. That’s up 7
percent from the previous week and is the most since Oct. 30.

Gasoil for February delivery rose $1.25, or 0.1 percent, to
$969.75 a ton on the ICE exchange as of 12:45 p.m. London time.
The contract’s premium, or backwardation, to March futures
widened $1 to $7.75 a ton. The market structure may signal
declining near-term supplies or increasing demand.

Gasoil’s crack was at $15.99 a barrel, up from $15.91 as of
4:30 p.m. on Jan. 25. Brent fell 0.1 percent to $113.19 a
barrel.